The Man in the Mirror
by cmqueens
Summary: I first saw him when I was three. I was at the carnival, on the merry-go-round. I was on the unicorn. He was on the lion. After that day, he was everywhere. Which is probably why I'm here, right now. The cold eyes, the constant contact, the aura of danger whenever I saw him. All I want to do is go home. But I can't.
1. Chapter 1

Evie

I first saw him when I was three.

I was at the carnival, on the merry-go-round. I was on the unicorn. He was on the lion. After that day, he was everywhere.

He was my crossing guard all through elementary school. Every day, walking to and from school, I felt his eyes on me. I thought he was watching to make sure I got across safe.

When I entered the seventh grade, my history teacher went out on maternity leave. He was our substitute. For twelve weeks, "Mr. Burrows" watched me every day during the seventh period. I felt the same, cold eyes.

When I was thirteen, he was at my soccer games. I thought he was someone's dad- but nobody ran to him after the games. He left hurriedly. All through the games, I felt the same, cold eyes.

Which is probably why I'm here, right now. The cold eyes, the constant contact, the aura of danger whenever I saw him. All I want to do is go home.

But I can't.

'Another year, another school,' I think to myself. I walk into Erin Redanyou High School. Every year is the same thing: brisk new clothes, friends hugging eachother. I've never been a part of that.

I look left, then right, scanning the crowd for the familiar, icy eyes staring me down. I turn left into the freshman locker bank, and scramble towards my locker to turn the code, schedule in hand. Ditching my coat and grabbing my pencil case, notebooks, and textbooks for my morning classes, I shut the door. As I'm leaving the locker bank, a tall girl walks up to me.

"Hi, I'm Ariel." she says. "Are you new here?"

"I'm Evelyn. And yeah, how'd you know?" I ask.

"The incoming classes get tours. It's obvious you weren't here or just moved in. What's your first class?"

"Uh.. Freshman Lit. AH in E304. Do you know how to get there?" I ask.

"Me too! Let's roll," She says. As we walk down the hallway, I do what I was trained to do. I scan the crowd, looking for anything that stands out. For the eyes that have given me so much trouble in the past.

We go up a few staircases and down a long hallway, but low and behold, Ariel and I get there. We walk in together to an empty classroom except for our teacher. "Mrs. Bohanon. I hear she's pretty nice," Ariel whispers to me, and we find seats roughly in the middle of the classroom.

"Alright class, don't get too comfortable in your seats, I have a seating chart for y'all," she says, and she starts listing off names of students that I've never heard. Ariel and I listen for our names, and end up on the end of a row, Ariel behind me. As Mrs. Bohanon launches into the usual first-day-of-school spiel, Ariel attempts to describe everyone to me.

"That's Nicole. The only reason she's in AH is because her dad owns Nordstrom." She says. "But honestly, she's dumber than a rock."

The rest of the day is one giant blur of "where is this class?" and looking over my the final bell rings, I meet Ariel at my locker and we walk to the front of the school. "I'm bus 183, how about you?" She asks.

I weigh my options for answering the question. "Uh, my mom picks me up after school every day," I say. My first lie.

I spot the black SUV in the pickup line, and I check the plates and look inside to make sure it's Jennifer. As soon as I'm certain it's her, I hop in.

"Hey! How was school?" Jennifer asks me.

"Boring. But I met a really nice girl named Ariel. We have a couple classes together." I say.

"Evie, you know you won't be here longer than a year. I'm not sure if it's worth it to make friendships like this if in the end you're just going to leave." She says.

"I know, but it's nice to have someone here who I don't hate. It's not like we're best friends yet or anything, we just walked to a couple classes together."

We pull into the neighborhood and after a couple minutes, into the driveway, into the locked garage, then we walk into the locked house, and Kimmie meets me at the door, tail wagging.

"Hey Kims," I say, as I pat her head. Jennifer walks inside and locks the door. "I miss my family," I say to her.

"I know you do. But you know that it's safer if you don't know where they are," She says. "And anyways, you have me. I'm your honorary mother." She says, wrapping her arm over my shoulder.

"I'm pretty darn lucky to have you," I say, and we walk into the house.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Evie? Can you take Kimmie upstairs? There's someone coming over for dinner," Jennifer tells me. We haven't had visitors in nearly forever.

"Yeah, no problem. Who's coming?" I ask her.

"Um… just a friend of mine and his son," She says, beaming.

"A friend? A boy friend?" I tease, and begin to whistle _Here Comes the Bride_.

"How come you know everything?" She asks, handing me a carrot to peel.

"Not sure. Instinct? Also, you're blushing." I say, and she turns to examine herself in the oven.

"Is it bad?" She asks.

"Not at all." I say, and continue peeling carrots. Right as we start to chop the vegetables, the doorbell rings, and I know the drill. I reach into the back of the cabinet, turn the lock, and grab the gun. Holding it in my hand, I hear Jennifer answer the door. "We're good, Evie." She yells, and I slide the gun back into the safe, and lock it up.

I walk into the hallway to see Jennifer hugging a strange man with a beard, a man I've never seen before. Hugging her leg, a small, blond boy jumps onto the ground. "Mommy! I miss you!" He says.

"I miss you too baby," She replies and picks him up. "How's he been?" She asks the man.

"He's been well. He knows you're helping people and he knows you're okay." He says, with a spitting southern accent. The chicken starts to sizzle.

"I've got to be in there, you two come sit at the counter," She says, in her 'mom' voice.

"Yes'm." The man says, and into the kitchen comes running the same small boy. Jennifer looks at me.

"Evie, this is my," she stops. "husband, Will, and my son, Henry." She says.

"Nice to meet you," I say, and shake Will's hand. I lean over to Jennifer and whisper "I told you he's more than a friend." She playfully hits me with her oven mitt and I flash her an 'I told you so' smile.

We set the table for four and stick to awkward small talk for the entire meal. I've never been too good at socializing with people, but the fact that Jennifer and Will are married (a fact I found out minutes before) makes it all the more awkward.

"How's the team?" She asks Will.

"They're doing fine, but they miss you. Penelope sends her love."

"Of course she does," Jennifer says, smiling. "How's school Henry?" She asks.

"Good! I like to read, and go to gym, and play at recess with Max. And sometimes, I see Jack!" He exclaims.

"How fun, baby." She says.

All this normal-family small talk continues, making it continually awkward for me. It's like a normal family dinner; then add me in.

"I'll be right back," I say, and take my dish to the counter.

"You okay?" Jennifer asks me.

"Yeah, I'm just going to take some aspirin. I've got a headache." I tell her, and walk upstairs.

I open the medicine closet at the top of the stairs and find the aspirin. I repeat the phrase my mother used to say to me. 'One for the money," I think, swallowing the first pill, "two for the show." I start walking towards the stairs, when I hear Will's voice, in a hushed tone.

"Jenn, I don't know how long we can do this. Henry misses his momma, and frankly, I miss you too. It was so much easier in the Pentagon-"

"Will, she needs me. I miss you guys too, but you have each other. She has nobody. What if it were Henry? Wouldn't you want someone with him?"

"Jayje, it's not him."  
"But what if it was. We both have dangerous jobs, we've both been shot, we're in constant danger. I'm helping people here. In the state department I got people killed for God's sake. I hated it there, and you know it!"

"She can find another mentor. You're not the only one!"

As soon as he says it, I run into my room, and pull clothes into a duffel bag. I grab the emergency $500 out of my sock drawer, and sit down at my desk and scrawl a letter to Jennifer.

Jennifer,

I'm sorry that I tore you away from your family. I'm off to somewhere else (I'm not sure where). As soon as I find a safe place to stay, I'll call you.

Xoxo,

Evie.

I staple the letter to Kimmie's collar, give her a final hug goodbye, and silently walk down the stairs, and slip out the front door.

Jennifer

I hear Kimmie barking hysterically from upstairs. "Evie? Can you make sure Kimmie's okay?" I shout up to her. I wait a couple seconds, and don't hear an answer. "Evie?"

I grab the gun out of the case in the cabinet, and tell Henry to sit inside and play with his trains. I walk up the stairs, as if I was entering an UnSub's house, and find nothing but Kimmie at the top of the stairs, shaking her head frantically. I notice the note, and skim over it. 'God, Evie.' I think to myself.

"Will!" I yell down the stairs. "She's gone!"


End file.
